April, 14th 2004
Capriati D Krasnoroutskaya 6-3, 6-1
Q. Good to get kind of a commanding win
like that, especially after the last time out. Can you talk about how you
played today and where your game is now?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, I came out, I played well, especially against a
tough opponent like her. She definitely can play some good tennis, and I
think I was just pretty aggressive and pretty focused the whole match, and
you know, really played well. Even when she was running me around, I was
able to get back her shots and then took the opportunity, so overall I think
it went really well.
Q. Is there anything specific you've worked on the last two weeks since the
NASDAQ, any specific aspect of your game you wanted to improve coming here
as the clay court season kind of picked up?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Just on my movement and my fitness level and trying to
work really hard. And for the upcoming season, you know, it's going to be a
grind, and you just gotta be -- you know, this is the time now to sort of
prepare for it, and you know, and just working a lot of playing, a lot of
different kinds of players, and playing a lot of points and stuff like that
and just kind of get the mentality of being aggressive and playing my game
and getting more confident in my shots.
Q. Is that back situation still an issue at all or have you been able to
get past that? Is that something that still lingers every now and then?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, it's something that will always be there that I
just have to take care of.
Q. Jennifer,
when you come back to a place where you've won, what's your mindset? Do you
have more confidence as you take the court here?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Well, I mean in the back of my mind I'm sort of, you
know, thinking about it a little bit like, you know, I won here, and you
know, I should get something from that experience and try to use it now in
the matches now and know that I've played well here before, and I can
definitely -- you know, I can play well again. But you know, every match is
a whole new match, so just you really just gotta focus on the task at hand
and not really think back on the past too much.
Q. Justine's withdrawal kind of leaves the part of the bracket you're in a
little more open. Did that catch your eye when that happened or how does
that affect your mindset, if at all, in this tournament?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Not to me. I mean every match for me lately has been
difficult. So really just gotta get through, you know, what's in front of
me, right in front of me.
Q. Jennifer, I know it's obviously very early and I'm not even sure how
long you've been working with Craig. Is there really anything that you can
say about that, anything he's suggested or done or is it too soon?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: It's kind of soon, but you know, it's just -- I haven't
made any long-term plans and just started after Miami just give it a go
through here, and yeah, I mean there's not really a lot I can say about it
right now except that he's, you know, a very good motivator and he's
positive, and, yeah, just he's trying to like just help me to play my game,
you know, to let that come out a little bit more than what it has been.
Q. You seemed to play a pretty clean
match. I mean there was just like one double fault, just very solid, very
clean play, and it being the first time out on the clay, are you pretty
pleased, in other words, say this is like an A performance or B plus?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean I would say it would be up there to definitely
like passing A. You know, just the last couple of weeks I just have played
a lot -- not only just drilling, but played a lot of points and just to
really like get into that mindset and so I wouldn't feel like I really
haven't played or like don't have the feel of playing points.
So you know, when I was out there, it just really felt like I was just doing
what I had been doing in practice, you know, really working on my game plan
and concentration and, you know, just kind of with a purpose out there, but
every match is different and, you know, I can't because I played one good
match think ahead to the next, you know, to like the future matches like
every match has gotta be the same thing. So not let down my guard at all
or, you know, or think maybe I had a bad match the last match, you know.
Q. I don't even know if you think about this during the match, but actually
the way I counted it you had ten set points in the first set to put her away.
Do you think about that like, you know, what's going on here?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: No, because at that point it wasn't like I was just
blowing them away. You know, they were tough points and she was playing
well, and you know, I was just trying to take it point by point, and if I
start thinking about that too much, like this is set point, you know, I'm
letting these go, what if I lose this game and what happens the next game,
you know, you start getting tight. So you can't really think about what's
really what's at stake. You just gotta play it like every point the same basically.
Q. We've asked a couple players this week about the injuries we've seen in
the women's tour the last year. Some of them said that maybe because you
have to play X number of tournaments now to keep your ranking, that may be a
product of that. Do you subscribe to that theory at all or do you have your
own or is it just coincidence?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I mean in every sport there's injuries. There's no way
around it, you know, and you have to play. I mean maybe there is a way to
just condense it or not have such a long season or make just bigger
tournaments, but fewer of them, and so it's, you know, you gotta think that
like we're just giving 100 percent almost in every -- there's no like girls
that come out and I just think tank, you know. So it's like it just I guess
seems that way, that there's a lot of injuries. But they've always been there.
Q. I mean does it get hard to keep your schedule and keep yourself healthy
at the same time? Does that ever get difficult?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, I mean you want to just maintain it on the road.
You know, you can get healthy off the road and get in good shape and then
kind of when you get in the tournament, things are not as available to you
and there's a little more stress and stuff like that, and you know, maybe
not as much time to take care of yourself. But you know, you just gotta
make that a priority, and I think as you play for a long time, you learn
what works and what doesn't.
Q. How do you feel right now health wise and as far as your game coming
into this week?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Right now I feel really good. Health wise, I mean
there's, you know, there's nagging stuff, I mean, and it's not like pain
free, you know. Or just like nothing's wrong with me, but it's definitely
manageable, and I think, you know, I just gotta be tough and realize it's
just how it's always going to be, and physically like if I just get myself
in really good shape, you know, I can grind it out and be in tough -- I've
been in tougher situations, so I think I feel overall pretty good.
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